Music Leader Trainee Profile - Marta Canellas
Marta Canellas has worked with More Music in Morecambe on two early years projects as a trainee music leader over the last 12 months. Here she tells us a bit more about her musical background and what she has learnt though this work.
Q - What’s your musical passion?
A - That’s really difficult to answer in my case. I like listening and playing very different kinds of music (classic, jazz, Latin, world music, folk…). But beyond a style or an instrument, what I like is the idea of music as a communication tool. I like the feeling of playing with other people –the same if they are professionals, pupils or friends. It is a feeling of empathy, of being part of a group and being myself at the same time, of knowing other aspects of the people I am playing with. Besides that, I am very interested in the relationship between the music and movement. That is actually my favourite way of teaching music when I work with a group.
Q - What you have done before (gigs / teaching etc.)?
A - As a musician, I was part of an acoustic pop band called Abrilia based in Barcelona and played with some classical orchestras and an experimental jazz band called Officina. I also do some performances in collaboration with other artists (poetry and dance), but my main job is teaching. I teach cello, my first instrument, and music to early years and in the Special Education Needs field. I love teaching music; no day is the same as the day before. I am also very fascinated by how people (included me, of course!) learn and develop their creativity through music.
Q - What work have you done with More Music?
A - In addition to joining some training workshops at More Music’s Hothouse, I have been taking part in two different More Music projects. On one side, I helped in music sessions in Preston with children aged 1-3 and their families, who lived in social needs contexts. I also worked as a trainee on the “Wonderful Things in Song” project, based in Burnley and organised by Mid Pennine Arts. This was an early years project addressed to four different nurseries in Burnley. My job was assisting the different artists who lead each set.
Q - What are three key things you've learnt through working with More Music?
A- The first thing is very important to me: a repertoire. This was my first year in the UK and I did not know any of the nursery rhymes that the children are used to. Having this repertoire helps me now to interact with the children and at the same time to invent new songs that do not sound so “strange” in English.
The second thing I’ve learnt is different approaches to making music in early years groups. That inspires me to choose different types of activities according to the needs and wishes of the groups I am working with.
The last thing is maybe the role of the creativity in the music sessions. I have seen that if the children invent their own songs they feel more engaged and enjoy the session in a higher level.
Q - What are you involved in now?
A - I am very grateful to More Music for this opportunity to collaborate with them and to know their work better. It helped me a lot in getting more confidence and I feel that I have more strategies to work in a group now. In this moment I am regularly working with some groups in special needs schools and leading an after school club about music fun and movement. I am also working on some ideas to develop my own workshops in the future.
Find out more about More Music at www.moremusic.org.uk